Completed Projects

In this study, we conducted a large-scale comprehensive examination of naturalistic data from thousands of actual crashes involving teenage drivers. The data allowed us to examine behaviors and potential contributing factors in the seconds leading up to the collision, and provided information not available inpolice reports.

Part IV in a series of studies, conducted at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center, of novice teen drivers. This report provides an overview of a training session developed for parents, that aims to improve parent "coaching" of their teen drivers.

This is the latest in a series of reviews of research on graduated driver licensing (GDL) published in the Journal of Safety Research, covering the period January 1, 2010-June 1, 2012 and work in progress. The intent is to keep researchers and policy makers current regarding the existing state of knowledge about GDL, and to identify information gaps and areas where clarification of research findings is needed. The recent research indicates that we continue to learn about ways to extend GDL benefits, but there remain important questions in need of further inquiry.

The data presented in this report can help states identify remaining targets of opportunity to prevent fatal crashes that involve teenage drivers with teenage passengers through refinements to their graduated driver licensing programs.

Although the overall number of teen driver fatalities has decreased substantially over the past several years, carrying young passengers is still a significant risk factor for young drivers. In contrast, carrying adult passengers significantly reduces the risks of crash involvement.